This invention relates to apparatus which may be employed to effect the disposal of inflammable fluids at offshore locations.
In particular, the invention is concerned with apparatus which may be utilized for burning fluid at a burner which is mounted on a floating vessel, with the vessel being subject to wave action.
The offshore, fluid-burning apparatus here under consideration is particularly useful in connection with offshore oil and gas operations where, from time to time, it becomes necessary to dispose of oil or gas by burning.
An apparatus which is particularly useful for effecting the disposal by burning of oil and/or gas at offshore locations comprises an Otis/NAO"CB" burner featured for example at pages 80 and 81 of the Jan. 20, 1975 issue of The Oil and Gas Journal, published by The Petroleum Publishing Company, 211 S. Cheyenne, Tulsa, Okla., 74101; this burner being available from Otis Engineering Corporation, P. O. Box 34380, Dallas, Tex., 75234.
Within the context of the present invention, a burner as above described is intended to be mounted on a floating vessel, such as a conventional service boat utilized in connection with offshore oil and gas operations. Fluid to be burned would be transferred to and/or accumulated on such a service vessel and burned through operation of a burner of the type heretofore noted.
In effecting such disposal-by-burning operations, it is desirable to position the burner at a location outboard of the floating vessel, and at a desired location with respect to wind and/or wave conditions with respect to the vessel.
Such positioning necessitates the utilization of reliable burner-positioning equipment.
Desirably, such positioning should be effected with apparatus involving minimal modification of existing vessel structure, minimum usurpation of available space on the service vessel, and maximum control over positioning movements of the burner. Such positioning control enables an operator to affirmatively avoid damaging structural interaction between the burner and vessel superstructure and avoid damage to burner-manipulating equipment which might be occasioned by wave-action-induced forces.
Bearing such general criteria in mind, the present invention affords an apparatus for manipulating a burner on an offshore vessel, which apparatus is characterized by optimized structural simplicity and reliability, and a unique degree of safety in connection with control over burner-manipulating operations.